My DC is a NMSF and is interested in CS. Could you please suggest list of schools with strong CS program that offer merit for NMSF and/or NMF? Thank you.
UT-Dallas and UCF for big NMF merit and strong CS; USC (CA) and Northeastern for more moderate (but still significant) NMF scholarships.
Of course, there are many more where a NMF student can get substantial merit on the basis of their overall record (and many of these include small NMF awards in addition); those are just the ones that come to mind where big merit is NMF-specific.
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Thank you. Any insight into U of Alabama’s CS program compared to UCF?
Depends on how you define “strong CS program”. As far as I know, none of the schools that have a top 25-30 CS program give big merit aid based on NMF status.
You’re going to have to trade-off merit $$ vs strength of program, and look at places like Alabama that pay big for NMF and attract a lot of smart students, but aren’t known for their CS program.
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Bama is solid - like most other state flagships.
Can you check career outcomes with the school’s career center? You can do for each schools.
My son is in engineering - and is interviewing with more than 10 companies right now.
It’s up to the kid - with recruiting the way it is today (on line), where you go is less an issue.
Bama isn’t right for everyone - but the offer is certainly hard to pass up.
Here’s a link - check each school individually but hopefully it’ll be helpful to you.
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Re: Bama vs. UCF, both have very solid CS programs. I think the differences between the two Honors Colleges are more notable than the differences between the two schools in CS, academically.
UCF’s Burnett Honors takes really good care of its students. Fewer than 2300 students are in Burnett - less than 4% of the university’s large undergraduate population. There are Honors-only sections of many lower-division classes, including the required sequences in math and CS. At Bama, almost a quarter of the undergraduate student population is in the Honors College - more than 7500 in Honors - so it’s not as intimate and cohesive a community as Burnett, although the university overall is only half the size of UCF. You can get a fine CS education at either place, but they’re definitely different experiences.
From the list tsbn shared, NJIT could be another good one to look at for CS.
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Thank you, very helpful
That’s great insight about the honors program. Thank you. Will look into NJIT.
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Texas A&M also for NMF with strong CS. I think they really prefer to apply early but not positive. They also have a high GPA requirement for secondary admission at end of freshman year. Maybe others that know TAMU and NMF can chime in here.
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The issue for TAMU for CS is the secondary application requirements for CS, which require a 3.75+ in first year engineering. Set aside that there are 16K+ engineers at A&M (which has a goal of 25K+ by 2025), the ETAM process is something all applicants to CS, Aero, and Mech at A&M should consider. My S22 (who is NMF) certainly did. Yes, A&M has higher rankings. But Bama was effectively free (for five years). A&M costs $100K over four years. Bama guaranteed a seat in his major. A&M did not. At Bama he could and did on-board onto competitive engineering teams (he is on EcoCar, but thought about others). A&M does not or does not have such teams. To each their own, of course.
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Good point about the ETAM process. Did your S22 get into the honors program at Bama, and does he like it? Also, how are the internship opportunities? Thank you for sharing.
This may have already been mentioned, but getting admitted directly into the program (especially CS) is, IMO, very important.
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My S22 is in the Honors College. He opted to start in the STEM Path to MBA program, which counts as Honors. So, to date, he has not taken “Honors” classes outside of that program. He has decided to not pursue the MBA, and instead double major in CS and Geography. So, starting next semester, he will be taking Honors classes. He has appreciated living in the Honors dorms. We, as a family, have calculated that his five years at Bama, during which he will earn a Masters in CS and double major (do two summers abroad and a full run of Ecocar), will cost us about $50K out of pocket, mostly being the housing in the fifth year and overseas costs (and food, lots of food). Not bad. To date no internships…but then, he has been in college for three months. He is just now going to Career Services (and there is one just for the Engineering School).
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ETAM at TAMU is exactly the reason my NMSF son didn’t apply there (or Ohio State) – he didn’t want to add to the stress of going to college with the added stress of worrying if he was going to get into CS, the only major he’s interested in.
Not that this is a perfect metric, but average college-reported salaries for CS students at a few NMF schools:
Alabama: $82k (average of Spring 2021/Fall 2021)
NJIT: $77k (2021)
Oklahoma: $75k (2020-2021 median)
Texas A&M: $90k (median in Fall 2021/Spring 2022)
UT-Dallas: $83k (exit survey from 2020 to 2021)
There’s also College Scorecard, although many NMFs might not have their salaries included in that if they never received federal aid or a federal loan.
Found this on one of my spreadsheets, which is the CS USN&WR ranking for every school offering decent NMF money in the ranking’s top 150. Take with a grain of salt, rankings aren’t everything, etc.
| USC | 24 |
|---|---|
| Texas A&M | 43 |
| Univ of Texas-Dallas | 72 |
| Univ of Central Florida | 86 |
| Washington State Univ | 86 |
| Univ of Nebraska | 86 |
| Florida State | 94 |
| NJ Inst of Tech | 94 |
| Univ of South Carolina | 94 |
| Univ of Missouri-Columbia | 94 |
| Univ of New Mexico | 98 |
| Univ of Alabama at Tuscaloosa | 110 |
| Univ of Texas-Arlington | 110 |
| Univ of Oklahoma | 121 |
| Missouri S&T | 121 |
| Univ of Houston | 121 |
| Texas Tech | 121 |
| Univ of Arkansas | 121 |
| Univ of South Florida | 141 |
| FIU | 141 |
| OK State | 141 |
| Univ of Maine | 141 |
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It’s also worth looking up ABET CS accreditation for NMSF/NMF big merit schools. While they might not be “top” schools for CS, ABET accreditation is one way to see if their programs are legit.
Northeastern has amazing CS and when students are on coop (usually two during their time) they can make a lot of money and help pay for tuition in other semesters. My D had friends who were making $45k in 6 month coops, often with corp housing provided, this might be changing with the economy right now, but that also helps.
NUs NMF scholarship policy has been lowered over time and now they just say you’ll get a competitive scholarship. It seems lately that they add $5k to whatever merit was provided at admission, but it’s not full tuition or $30k like it used to be.
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I have 2 NM sons, both are CS majors attending UT Dallas.
Oldest son completed is BS and Masters in CS with their fast track program in four years so it was all covered under his NM scholarship with which worked out to be a full ride +/- $100 a semester depending on meal plan. After graduation he was awarded a fellowship to continue on with his PHD. He is very happy at UTD.
Younger son is also doing the Fast Track CS program at UT Dallas he finishes his BS this month and will graduate with his Masters May 2024 also fully covered by his NM scholarship. He already has a great internship lined up for this summer ($45 an hour with $6500 housing stipend) for a company he will likely choose to work for after graduation.
UT Dallas is ABET accredited and has been great for my boys. Things you need to know: it is not a party school, and you really need to make sure your student understands the degree plan/requirements as the advising sometimes isn’t very helpful. Students need to make an efort to join clubs and do personal projects and make connnections to make the most out of their experience at UTD.
I also have a daughter that was NM and went to OU for meteorology she had planned to minor in CS but said their CS program was not good at all and dropped her CS minor so I really wouldn’t recommend OU for CS based on her experience. Also the fees at OU are crazy $$ She’s finishing a masters at OU this month which was partly covered by OU’s NM scholarship.
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I do notice that UT Dallas is no longer a full ride - it’s full tuition, $1500 per semester toward housing, and a $4000 per semester stipend. I’m guessing that $11k must get close to the room/board/etc cost, though…?
yes for us it did, I think freshman year it $100 short and then the boys took the cheapest housing option after fresshman year, an unfurnished 4 bedroom 2 bath on campus apartment which did not require the meal plan and the boys had a little money left of from their stipend and housing allowence. Younger son’s freshman year was remote due to covid so he didn’t get the $1500 housing but but did get the $4000K per semester and since we didn’t charge him room and board he really made out on that one:-) The $11K also doesn’t include the money actually provided by NM if I recall it was $750 a semster (could be mistaken on the amount) UTD also allows “stacking” of scholarships so any outside scholarships that a student earns will not effect the money UTD is providing. My older son recieved a $5K scholarship from his fathers employer, it was sent to UTD but UTD refunded the full amount to him.
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